Krishna

Krishna, one of the most popular Hindu gods, is revered as a supreme
deity
and the eighth
incarnation
of the god Vishnu. Worshiped as a restorer of order to the world, he
appears in a number of myths and legends. The most important source of
stories about Krishna is the
Mahabharata,
the great Hindu
epic
written between 400
B
.
C
. and
A
.
D
. 200, and the
Bhagavatam,
written later.

deity
god or goddess

Hindus worship Krishna, one of the most popular Hindu gods, as a
supreme god and restorer of order to the world. Here, Krishna lifts a
mountain.

Birth and Childhood.
According to myth, Krishna was the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. His uncle,
the wicked King Kamsa of Mathura, heard a
prophecy
that he would be killed by the eighth child of his sister Devaki. As a
result, Kamsa vowed to kill the child. However, when Devaki gave birth to
Krishna, her eighth child, the god Vishnu helped switch him with the
newborn child of a cowherd and his wife. This couple raised Krishna as
their own son.

From birth, Krishna exhibited great powers. Once when his father was
carrying him, the baby Krishna dipped his foot in the waters of a raging
river. The waves parted, allowing Vasudeva to cross.

After the evil Kamsa discovered that Krishna was alive, he sent demons to
destroy the child. Krishna managed to overcome them all. He put an end to
the ogress Putana by sucking the life out of her and caused a cart to
crush the monstrous flying demon named Saktasura. He also destroyed
Trinavarta, a whirlwind demon, by smashing it against a rock.

As Krishna grew up, he often amused himself by playing pranks on people.
He also enjoyed teasing the daughters of the cowherds and had many
romantic adventures.

incarnation
appearance of a god, spirit, or soul in earthly form

epic
long poem about legendary or historical heroes, written in a grand
style

prophecy
foretelling of what is to come; also something that is predicted

Struggles Against Evil.
When Krishna reached manhood, Kamsa lured him and his brother Balarama to
Mathura to a wrestling contest. As the brothers entered the city, Kamsa
released a wild elephant to trample them. Krishna killed the beast. Next
Kamsa sent his champion wrestlers to fight the brothers, but Krishna and
Balarama defeated them all. Finally, Kamsa ordered his demons to kill
Krishna's real parents, Vasudeva and Devaki. Before this could take place,
however, Krishna killed Kamsa, thus fulfilling the prophecy made years
before.

After killing Kamsa, Krishna led his
clan,
the Yadavas, to the fortress city of Dvaraka. He settled there and
married a beautiful princess named Rukmini. He later took other wives as
well.

The climax of Krishna's long struggle against the forces of evil came with
the great war between two families: the noble Pandavas and their evil
cousins the Kauravas. Krishna served as the charioteer of Arjuna, one of
the Pandava leaders. Although he took no part in the fighting, Krishna
gave advice to Arjuna, and the Pandavas eventually defeated the Kauravas
and rid the world of much evil. The conversations between Krishna and
Arjuna are found in a section of the
Mahabharata
called the Bhagavad Gita.

clan
group of people descended from a common ancestor or united by a common
interest

After the war, Krishna returned to Dvaraka. One day while he sat in the
forest, a hunter mistook him for a deer and shot an arrow at him. The
arrow pierced Krishna's heel, his only vulnerable spot. After Krishna
died, his spirit ascended to Goloka, a heavenly paradise, and his sacred
city of Dvaraka sank beneath the ocean.